My son wrote me a card that said this: "I loav you, Mom. You're the beast!" Nothing sums me up better. Welcome to the Beast Mom blog!

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..

My 20th Reunion Post, A.K.A. “Um, Who Are You?”

I’m flying home right now and reflecting on my long weekend trip to my twentieth high school reunion. Our group of friends got together at several different venues before the formal reunion Saturday night. It was great to just hang out and catch up. I think most of our conversation bits began like this, “Remember when?” And they ended like this, “Hahahahahaha!” There was so much to laugh about as everyone reminisced, everything from crushes on seniors when we were freshman to pelting people with grapes in the lunchroom. We talked about Spanish class, hideous gym uniforms, and teachers we hated. We talked about slumber parties, permed hair, and slow dancing. It was fun because everyone had different memories that stood out. I loved that part of catching up. Things I had forgotten someone else remembered. And it was lovely to meet people’s families. My friends’ kids were truly precious.

I felt very little time crunch at the huge formal reunion Saturday night because I’d already made sure to have time with my closest friends prior. I mingled a little with others in the crowd too, but honestly, I didn’t care too much about chit-chatting with lots of distant acquaintances. I stopped mingling with the larger crowd after the first twenty minutes because what was happening was this:

Girl At Salad Bar looks at me and my nametag and smiles openly, waiting for me to say hello like I know her. Problem: I don’t have any idea who she is so I put lots of mushrooms on my salad.

So as you can see, mingling among “acquaintances” from twenty years ago was all but useless for me. So I just sat at the dinner table with my actual friends and stayed put for the night. Much, much better. It was hilarious to me that my girlfriends kept asking me who various people across the room were. I had no idea and didn’t really care. This is how their questions went over the course of the night…

B: Who’s that guy in the blue shirt?
Me: I don’t know.

W: Is that so-and-so over there?
Me: I don’t know.

S: Who’s that guy by the tall table?
Me: I don’t know.

K: Is that guy a husband or was he in our class?
Me: I don’t know. I vote for husband.

L: Who’s that guy sitting across the table from us?
Me: I don’t know.

K: So have you talked with more people?
Me: No, I don’t think any of these other people went to our high school.

After a while my group of friends started making fun of me good-naturedly because I literally ONLY remembered them. I don’t think I could answer a single question about anyone far beyond our group’s relationships. Hey, not only do I have addled mom-brain, but if I wasn’t friends with someone between 1984-1987 when I had FOUR years to develop a relationship, why I should try to be familiar with someone for two hours in 2007? Makes no sense to me. 😉 I preferred to spend my time with my actual close friends. And that time was already too short anyway.

I felt this reunion was quite useful really. I now know without a doubt that I had ten friends in high school. 😉 Besides my real friends, everyone else was just background to me at the reunion, bodies eating pasta and talking in their own social circles. It actually reminded me of how extraneous people fade to black when you fall in love with someone. Investing in a broad spectrum of other acquaintances just doesn’t matter much right then. I felt I had this little window to care for my friends and catch up – see how they’re really doing – and just goof around together and enjoy reminiscing. I wasn’t about to waste that short amount of time w/ other people asking what their names are and such.

Over the weekend events, I felt whisked back in time a bit. I had forgotten little things about my friends, having not been around them for so long – someone’s unique way of laughing or telling stories, another’s wickedly funny sense of humor, another’s spazziness and hand motions. Our group of friends was always nutty. It was hilarious to be taken back into that dynamic. Laughing like crazy over kooky stuff was a real balm to my adult-weary soul. 😉 I felt a little bit like a teenager again. It felt good.

—–

Tangent: I have an off-track question for a second. Why is it when you walk directly up to the meat carver’s table at a buffet that they always ask if you want whatever kind of meat it is? I went to the turkey carving table. There was nothing there but turkey and the chef wielding a knife. I’m standing right in front of him holding my plate out and he says to me, “Do you want some turkey?” My immediate thought was, “No, I’m just trying to get a tan from the heat lamp at the TURKEY ONLY table. Of course I want some turkey.” But me being the polite person I’ve been raised to be, I only said, “Yes please.”

—–

So seeing good friends at my reunion was really quite wonderful. As for juicy stories, there weren’t many. My one friend had a women’s bathroom incident caused by some twit from our class who was obviously holding a 20 yr grudge. Good grief. Twenty years. And we were kids when it happened. Drop it already.

Our friends did have a little fun talking about how some girls never changed that much with their hooker-ish taste in clothing. One gal from our class was wearing a micro-mini skirt cut so high that her butt was getting some serious jet stream ventilation. I wanted to ask when her Wimbledon match was. But once again, being the polite person I’ve been raised to be, I said nothing of the sort. Hope she doesn’t read my blog post. Actually, maybe she should.

Guess there was some heavy-duty partying going on til 5:30am in the hotel upstairs following the official end of the reunion. Me? I started saying my goodbyes around 11:20pm. I felt a bit spent from talking all weekend and I can tell when I’m done and of no social use any longer. So I went around to give hugs and goodbyes and told my friends that I’d “used up all my words” for the night. My friend, Leslie said, “No! Don’t leave yet! I have more words you can borrow!” Too funny.

I finally left the hotel at 11:30pm and wandered around the hotel parking lot looking for my parent’s car. I regularly lose cars here in Seattle. Just send me to Target and I’ll be there an extra ten minutes looking for my damn vehicle. So here at this unfamiliar hotel parking lot, I wandered around, aisle by aisle, zapping my mom’s car alarm beeper at car butts, waiting for some lights to kick on. So that was SUPER FUN! I was in my high heels that I’d been wearing for seven hours straight. Nothing like a good parking lot stroll in high heels at midnight when you’re feet are KILLING! I really am a big dork. That will NEVER, NEVER change. We’ll be at our 40th reunion and I’ll probably forget my OWN name.

So I eventually found the car. I sat it in it quietly for a moment while thinking…”My friends are good people. School could’ve been bad for me, but it wasn’t. I really enjoyed it for the most part. That’s because of these friends. I’m glad I came to this reunion.” And then I started the car and headed home while playing a Starship song.
It was just like a cheezy 80’s movie ending. 😉

-bm

P.S. Here’s the Starship song I drove home to. It’s my favorite feel-good 80’s song…yeah, shut up. I like Starship. I know that group’s music is a total 80’s-cheeze fest, but so what. 😉 The song is called “Nothing’s Gonna’ Stop Us Now”, and it’s never failed to make me feel up.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..